Written by: Matthew Hile 12/8/2006 8:22 AM
Jon Udell is joining Microsoft. Why should I/we care? I started working with computers over two decades ago and at the time knew very little about them. I was a clinical psychologist and had only worked with statistical programs (using a mainframe and punch cards). No computer classes in college or graduate school. No personal computer (this was after all at the very beginning of the PC). So how did I learn? I started reading Byte Magazine (as well of lots of other stuff). Each month I would read the articles in Byte, which I often did not understand, and slowly I began to understand to terms, concepts, and approaches that under gird computers. Jon wrote for Byte and I have been reading his articles ever since. Over the years he has taught me a great deal and has clearly and powerfully presented new ideas in a way that helped me see how they could be used to support my users. When Jon makes a recommendation I listen. For example he recently mentioned the podcasts from the Long Now Foundation, Seminars On Long-term Thinking, I started listening and have become hooked. They are terrific (more about them in some other posts).At any rate, I have been reading and trusting Jon for years and if he is as excited as his self-interview suggests, then I am really looking forward to what he is about to do. Congratulations Jon!
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